Goodbye, Alan
by bjaarcy
Summary: "I couldn't believe it: Finn was actually trying to smuggle a crab in his bag." In which Finn makes a friend he can't leave behind! Set in Onceinyourlife's Fathers-verse, right after chapter 26. Burt POV. oneshot


Since I have read the idea, I now can't get it out of my head, and thus this was born.

This was inspired by and is in the same verse as another fic called "Fathers" by OnceinYourLife. I highly recommend you read that fic before reading this once because this literally takes off after one of the chapters.

So, basically, Finn can't let go of Alan, his new crab friend that he met during the Hummel-Hudson Spring Break vacation. The gist of what happened is that the Hummel-Hudson family – and Blaine – went to Virginia to spend their Spring Break at the beach. There, Finn met Alan, a crab. On the last day of their vacation, Finn was hesitant to leave Alan – and that's where my fic begins!

Enjoy and I'm terribly sorry for this longass A/N! :D

Disclaimer: I am not RIB nor am I the author of a wonderful fic called "Fathers". I am simply writing this because it seems _too good_ to pass up.

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><p>The morning we had to leave, things went pretty smooth for a while. Carole and I got up early to wake up our boys, we all packed our stuff (or rather, everyone but Kurt did, as he already packed his things the night before), and then we made our way to the lobby to check out of the hotel. Carole and I decided to wait at the front desk to check out as the boys lounged at the seats in the foyer.<p>

She was just telling me about how good the vacation was for all of us when I heard Kurt say behind me, "Oh my god, Finn. You did not."

"What are you talking about?" Finn replied, but you could clearly hear the guilt in his voice.

Carole and I looked at each other.

"Go," she nodded then, "I'll take care of this." She smiled.

I gave her a peck on the cheek and started towards the boys.

"_Finn,_" Blaine hissed as I approached.

"Something going on, boys?" I asked nonchalantly, walking up to them as I crossed my arms.

"N-no," Finn said, glancing away from me.

Blaine laughed.

Kurt glared at Finn.

"Well?" I pressed.

At that, Kurt widened his eyes at Finn, his head jerking towards one of Finn's bags. I looked at the one he gestured to, and then saw that something inside was _moving._

"Finn, your bag's moving," I pointed out.

Finn sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"No it's not," he murmured, kicking it, as if that would actually make it stop squirming.

"Finn!" Kurt said. I looked at my son for a moment before turning back to Finn.

"Fine!" Finn whispered, "It's Alan…" Then, he was reaching for the bag and pulling out the crab in question.

I laughed. I couldn't believe it: Finn was actually trying to smuggle a crab in his bag. The very same crab he let loose in Kurt's bed the first night of our vacation.

"Really, kid?" I asked, hoping that I was covering up my smile.

He shrugged. "I like Alan. He's cool."

Kurt was looking up at the ceiling with a pained expression as he said, "Finn, _it's a crab…_" while Blaine and I looked at each other, trying not to double over in laughter.

Finn looked away, glaring, and I swear I heard him quietly say, "He's not _just_ a crab."

Swallowing my own laughter, I said, "Finn, you gotta let it go."

"But, I could totally take care of him!" he pleaded.

I was actually taken back by this. Finn really wanted this crab to come home with us to Lima.

"Says the one the who stuffed Alan in a bag," Blaine remarked quietly, before I could voice my surprise.

Finn glared at him, and he opened his mouth to say something but I interrupted.

"Blaine's got a point, you know. You were gonna stuff the thing –"

"Alan," he corrected.

I scoffed. "Alan," I repeated, "in a bag for about 12 hours, Finn."

He down at Alan, his expression showing that he felt guilty about actually doing that to the crab in his hands.

Once I saw that, it firmed my resolve that that Finn clearly had no idea how to actually take _care_ of him.

I decided to start interrogating him.

"Where were you gonna put him once we got home?"

Finn kept his gaze on Alan.

"What were you gonna feed him?"

He continued to look at the crab.

"How do you know he wasn't gonna –"

"Okay, okay! I get it," he finally broke. "I don't really know how to care of him."

"More like you don't have a single clue, Finn," Kurt clarified. The triumph in his voice was hard to miss. I gave him a look, and Kurt rolled his eyes as he turned away.

I turned back to Finn. He honestly looked kinda broken up about having to leave his crab friend.

I guess I could understand it. As far as I knew, he never had a pet to really call his own. And Finn definitely looked like a kid who would really benefit from having one. A pet for him meant someone to play with and enjoy. Not to mention, it'd show him responsibility and it'd teach him how to take care of someone other than himself. (Not that he didn't take care of his family, of course. I just thought that a pet on his mind could actually teach him a thing or two about how to take care for another living being.) I always figured he was more of a dog person though. Huh, guess not.

"Can I at least say goodbye to him? And put him back on the beach?" he asked, defeated.

I took pity on him.

"Alright, kid. Once your mom gets back from checking us out, we'll go over to the beach and release Alan. Got it?" I raised a brow at him.

He nodded with a smile, looking grateful. "Thanks," he said, moving to put Alan back in his bag.

"Finn!" Kurt hissed.

"What?" He looked down at Alan, who was halfway in his bag already, then back to Kurt.

"Your things are going to smell like seafood," Kurt berated.

Finn blinked at him. "Okay…?"

Kurt shook his head, looking away from his brother, an incredulous look on his face. Blaine began to console him as I guffawed.

Carole eventually finished checking us out of the hotel, and I explained the situation to her as we packed the bags in the car. She shook her head, smiling disbelievingly at her son's actions. Not even 10 minutes later we were back on the beach, Finn about 5 feet into the water as he held Alan in his hands. Kurt, Blaine, Carole and I waited for him at the shore with his shoes, keeping ourselves dry. Carole was pressing a hand to her mouth, keeping her giggles to herself as Kurt was whispering how "incredibly pointless this was" to Blaine, who simply nodded. Though, I knew for a fact he was biting back a smile.

Five minutes passed and Finn had yet to put the crab back into the ocean. I looked at Carole, who seemed to notice this too.

"We're pressed for time as it is, Burt," she told me quietly.

I nodded. "I know."

"Should I – ?"

"Nah," I said, cutting her off, "I'll talk to him." And with that I bent over and began to take off my shoes, placing them next to Finn's.

I walked into the water, shivering a bit at how cold it actually was before continuing my way towards Finn. By the time I reached him, he was squinting out into the horizon with Alan still in his giant hands. I clasped a hand on one of his shoulders.

"You gotta let him go," I said.

Finn sighed, looking down at the crab before bending over and dropping it into the water. Alan immediately washed away with the tide that came and went. Standing up, Finn made a face, then looked back into the horizon.

"Alan was a great crab," he started, "He was –"

"Kid," I interjected, "you don't have to say a eulogy for him."

He looked confused, like he honestly did not know what the word "eulogy" meant.

"Uh, okay…?"

I bit back a chuckle, instead saying, "You can say goodbye to him though."

Finn lifted a hand into the air and breathed, "Goodbye, Alan."

I patted his shoulder a few times and nodded sympathetically. "Come on. The family's waiting."

I began to make my way over to my family, who was still waiting at the shore. When I realized Finn wasn't following me, I stopped in my place and turned back, squinting because the sun was really starting to shine.

"Finn!" I called out.

He looked to me before facing forward again, nodding. Then, he finally turned around and we made our way back towards the beach.

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"Finally!" Kurt said as soon as we entered the house. He sighed, dropping his things on the floor before slumping into the nearest couch.

The ride on the way home was just as eventful as the first. The boys argued and Carole and I tried to calm them down. The only thing was remotely different was that Finn sighed, loudly, on various occasions. Kurt simply huffed and put a hand to his face, like he was actually ashamed of knowing Finn at that moment. Blaine nodded sympathetically and patted Finn's shoulders, all the while holding back a laugh I knew he was hiding. Carole and I simply shook our heads at how silly our children were.

Still, it was great to finally step back into our home and relax.

Blaine came in with several bags in his arms then, calling out, "I'll take care of the bags!" before moving them around the house.

"Thank you, Blaine!" Carole and I replied.

Once Finn walked in, he stopped at the doorway and simply announced, "Alan would have loved to live here."

At that, Kurt stood up from his seat on the couch, grabbed his things and headed up the stairs to his room. The entire time, I could clearly hear him whispering things, like, "It's a stupid _crab,_ Finn." (I figured Kurt was still touchy about the entire crab-in-his-bed incident, which was why he felt so strongly about Finn bringing Alan home.) Finn didn't seem to notice this though, walking over to the couch Kurt just sat at and dropped.

I walked up to him behind the seat, clapping his shoulder gently once I reached him.

"It was a good thing for you to let him go," I said.

He nodded somberly. "I know," he replied quietly.

"What's that saying?" I began once more, "'If you love something, let it go; if it loves you back, it'll find you again'? You let him go, Finn. Maybe Alan'll find you again in the future."

He nodded again, a little more happier than before. "Yeah," he said sounding better than before, and I could hear the smile behind the word.

I let go of his shoulder, and walked up to my wife, who was pressing a hand to her mouth.

"I can't believe he's actually broken up about it," she whispered, leading me up the stairs.

I shook my head. "Maybe we should get him a dog…"

We stopped for a moment, then began to laugh as quietly as we could. We both looked down from our spot at the stairs to Finn, who was still sitting on the couch, with the TV on. I laughed again. He was watching a documentary on Discovery Channel. A documentary on _King Crabs._

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><p>Yeah, I had no idea how to end this, so excuse the crap ending. I could still see happening though! X''''D So, I hope you enjoyed this! I like reviews, because those make my day :3<p>

x o x o bjaarcy

PS I know OnceinYourLife pictured Carole doing the scolding, but it's a Burt-centric fic! I can't _not_ put it in his POV xP

PPS I really, highly recommend reading Fathers by the way. It's an AWESOME fic! :3


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